Matthew Materazo Biography [1/2]

[Matt_O 897]

Matthew Materazo was born September 12th, 2001, just a day after 9/11. He was born on Long Island to Denise and Alan Materazo, who are his parents. One thing they always said was that they could not figure out where his athletic gene came from. Denise Materazo played field hockey in middle school and then in ninth grade, but she played for the middle school team in ninth grade, which isn't allowed anymore. Al Materazo's best sport was baseball, which he played from age 7 to 15, before he took a ball to the eye and was injured and basically blind in one eye for two months, and then quit baseball after that. He also played golf and was very good at it, but only for fun or with business clients. Both Al and Denise were accountants, and they both managed to raise Matthew despite the stress of their job, as well as the unforgiving workload in tax season. Most of the time, Matthews grandmother, or Denise's mother, would watch Matt at home when he was little.

 

Matthew Materazo was five years old when he first started to watch and enjoy hockey. He was a huge Islanders fan, and him and his dad had season tickets at the Nassau Coliseum every year until they moved to Barclays, in Brooklyn. When he was about 12 or so, the VHL and VHLM caught his eye, and slowly pulled him in. Resigned to the fate that he probably wouldn't make the NHL, he began to look into other leagues, such as the OHL and WHL. However, he put aside those plans to try to get into the VHL. He was a fan of the Las Vegas Aces, and had a deep hatred to the Saskatoon Wild. He decided to enter free agency at 17, and signed with the team he hated so much as a child, the Saskatoon Wild, for one year and 1.5 million dollars

 

When he was seven years old, he started playing deck hockey at the Sports Arena in St. James, on Long Island. He was no good at first, not going to lie, but after a few seasons, he became phenominal, and is top 5 in points all time for the penguin, beaver, CDET and freshman divisions. He played for one or two deck teams at a time, and routinely was the best player on his team, and came in at clutch moments, including scoring four goals in a single elimination stanley cup game.

 

He also started playing roller hockey when he was 9. This time, he was pretty good to start, but in his third season of playing, he took the leap from good to elite. After that season, he was forced to move up an age group or play goalie, and he did play goalie. He carried the team to a 5-5 record, and considering the best player on that team had 7 points in 10 games, that is really good. Materazo transitioned his talents to Skatesafe in Bethpage, where he played for the Commack JV roller hockey team at 12 and 13 years old, and then played varsity from 14 to 17. He won the MVP for varisty at 17 years old, when through 25 games, he scored 53 points and led his team to first place, and eventually the championship.

 

At 9 years old, he also started playing ice hockey. He played at Superior Ice Rink in Kings Park, and the rinx in Happuage. He played for the Middle Country Ice Hockey team for five years, and scored at a point per game rate in each of those years, including a personal best 37 points in 20 games in his 10th grade season. He was the assistant captain for the freshman team in 7th grade, and the captain in 8th grade. He was also the captain of the JV team in 10th grade. He would have been named captain for his senior year at Middle Country if he wasn't playing for the Saskatoon Wild right now.

 

In 2016, he got a call from the Barrie Colts, an OHL squad. He was being offered a PTO, or a professional try out. He traveled up to the city and impressed the coaches, and was offered a roster spot. He took them up on the offer, but was eligible for next season, and had to wait another four months before he could officially play in the OHL. He came home and packed away his things, took out a hotel in Barrie, and bid his parents farewell before starting the summer offseason training program with the team. In the 2017-18 season, he scored 41 points in 63 games for the team. The Colts made it to the second round that year, but were bounced in seven by the eventual champions Hamilton Bulldogs. In the 13 playoff games they played, Materazo had 11 points. After that season, he became a free agent, and was heavily pursuited by the Colts to try to get him to re-sign. He also was offered scholarships by colleges such as North Dakota and Minnesota to play ice hockey for them, but he decided to take his talents to the VHL and enter as a free agent.

 

Things were looking great. He would get a chance to play in the VHL, when suddenly, he got a call. It was his dad. He had lung cancer. This was... weird. He never smoked, and they weren't entirely sure how it happened, but it did. With the tragic news, Materazo was motivated to work even harder. A few days later, he signed with the Saskatoon Wild. He changed his number from 17 to 22, in honor of his dad. His dad passed away August 23rd.

 

Where to now?

 

As an official member of the Saskatoon Wild, what else is there to do? He is currently on their third line, with a shot to move up through the ranks. He was praised by previous coaches for his intense work ethic and he works hard to get better at all times. The ultimate goal is to make the VHL, where he can represent his home of New York if he can get picked up by them. He has dreams of not only becoming good, but a legend in the VHL. He hopes that the Wild can help him break through and became an elite talent in this league for years to come. However, he has to give credit to his dad, who was the biggest piece to helping him to get to this position.

 

 

[StamkosFan 72]

Review:

One thing I found lacking in this biography was that there was no formatting or pictures. Also, I think the vast majority of the biography was focused on hockey; this doesn't really explain much about his early life. Even the sad news about his dad, which could've been a major fixture of this storyline, was just like a side note, an asterisk that was tossed in. I would've liked to have seen some notes about his schooling, family life, siblings, relationships, etc.